Vermilacinia, a genus of lichenized fungi in the family Ramalinaceae, is a yellow-green fruticose type of lichen with about 30 species that grow on rocks, trees, and soil within the fog zone along the Pacific Coast of North America and South America. The genus name refers to the thallus being divided into narrow worm-like (vermis) branches (lacinia);the latter part of the name (lacinia) generally applied in descriptions and taxonomic keys such as exemplified in a key to Sonoran Desert species of Ramalina.
Niebla is a genus of yellow-green fruticose lichens that grow on rocks, trees, and shrubs within the fog zone of coastal North America, or more narrowly defined to occur on rocks and soil along the Pacific Coast from Mendocino County in California south to Baja California Sur.
Niebla homalea is a species of fruticose lichen that grows on rocks in foggy areas along the Pacific Coast of North America, from Mendocino County, California south to Bahía de San Quintín on the main peninsula of Baja California, with an isolated occurrence further south on vertical rock faces above Punta Camachos, and other occurrences in the Channel Islands and on Guadalupe Island. The epithet homalea, given by Acharius, suggests it was in regard to the branches appearing flattened.
Vermilacinia acicularis is a fruticose lichen that occurs in the Channel Islands of California. The type specimen was collected from San Clemente Island. Other specimens have been collected from Santa Barbara Island and Anacapa Island.
Vermilacinia cedrosensis is a species of pale fruticose lichen that is endemic to Baja California, Mexico.
Vermilacinia ceruchoides is a fruticose lichen found on rock faces of cliffs or boulders, sometimes growing among mosses, usually near the ocean, ranging in distribution from Marin County, California to San Vicente on the northern peninsula of Baja California, and in the Channel Islands.
Vermilacinia combeoides is a fruticose lichen found on rocks along the Pacific Coast of North America from Sonoma County, California south to San Quintín, Baja California, and also on Santa Catalina Island and Guadalupe Island.
Vermilacinia laevigata is a fruticose lichen that occurs in the fog zone along the Pacific Coast of the California Floristic Province from Marin County, California to 15 miles south of Misión San Vicente Ferrer in Baja California
Vermilacinia ligulata is an infrequent lichen found along the foggy Pacific Coast of Baja California in rock-walled narrow arroyos, on rocky peninsulas and on ridges within the Northern Vizcaíno Desert region, ranging from Punta Cono to just north of Punta Canoas, and along the east coast of Cedros Island. The species was first collected in May 1985 in the southern part of the northern peninsula of Baja California, about 100 km north of Guerrero Negro, 400 meters inland from the ocean on rocky walls with a northern exposure in a narrow estuary. The type is from the same locality but collected one year later, 19 May 1986.
Vermilacinia paleoderma is a pale yellow-green fruticose lichen that occurs commonly along the fog zone of the Pacific Coast of Northern Vizcaíno Desert region of Baja Californica and occasionally in the Chaparral Islands of California.
Vermilacinia procera is a fruticose lichen of local occurrences on rocks near the sea along the Pacific Coast from San Francisco California to the Channel Islands, and to Punta Escarpada in Baja California. The species is also reported to occur further south to the Vizcaíno Peninsula and on Cedros Island, but these reports are controversial in view of different interpretations of the species that include V. pumila and V. paleoderma that were not recognized at the time V. procera was described ; for example, a specimen collected on Guadalupe Island by Weber and MCoy (L-3605, COLO that was cited by Phillip Rundel and Peter Bowler in 1994 as belonging to Niebla procera, whereas in a revision of the genus by Richard Spjut in 1996, it was cited as belonging to Vermilacinia paleoderma. Both authorities generally agree to some extent on the description of the species and its geographical range within the California Floristic Province.
Vermilacinia pumila is a whitish-green fruticose lichen that occurs in fog areas along the Pacific Coast and offshore islands of North America. The species epithet pumila refers to the dwarf form of the thallus, in contrast to V. combeoides.
Vermilacinia reptilioderma is a rare fruticose lichen found on the Vizcaíno Peninsula and Cedros Island of Baja California. The epithet, reptilioderma, is in regard to the outer surface of the cortex appearing like the skin of a reptile, especially the brown snake, Pseudechis australis, the color of the thallus cortex often turning brown when stored in a herbarium.
Vermilacinia rigida is a dark green, rare fruticose lichen that occurs in fog areas along the Pacific Coast of Baja California, known only from two locations about 100 km north of Guerrero Negro. The epithet, rigida, is in regard to its stiff thallus branches.
Vermilacinia rosei is a fruticose lichen known from two islands off the Pacific Coast of central Baja California, San Roque Island and Cedros Island. The epithet, rosei, is in honor of Joseph Nelson Rose who collected the lichen on San Roque Island, 15 March 1911, during the Albatross Expedition. His lichen specimens had been kept separate from the mounted and filed lichen collections in the herbarium at the Smithsonian Institution, Department of Botany, US) loose in brown standard herbarium paper, and were made available to Richard Spjut sometime after 1986 while he was undertaking a revision of the genus Niebla. The epithet was proposed by Albert William Herre who considered the lichen to be a new species but did not describe the species or publish the name. .
Vermilacinia varicosa is a fruticose lichen known from two islands along the Pacific Coast of central Baja California, Isla San Roque located just off the southern Vizcaíno Peninsula west of Bahía Asuncón and Cedros Island where found on precipitous rocks along the northwest coast. The epithet, varicosa, is in reference to the unusually dilated type of branch in the genus. The lichen was first collected by Joseph Nelson Rose on 15 March 1911 during the Albatross Expedition. His lichen specimens had been kept separate from the mounted and filed lichen collections in the herbarium at the Smithsonian Institution, Department of Botany, US) loose in brown standard herbarium paper, and were made available to Richard Spjut sometime after 1986 while he was undertaking a revision of the genus Niebla
Vermilacinia vesiculosa is a fruticose lichen known only from a vertical rock face north of Punta Canoas along the Pacific Coast of Baja California. The epithet vesiculosa is in reference to the bladder-like swellings on the thallus.
Vermilacinia corrugata is a fruticose lichen that grows on trees and shrubs in the fog regions along the Pacific Coast of North America from the Channel Islands and San Diego in California to southern Baja California. The epithet is in reference to corrugated cortex of the species.
Vermilacinia howei is a fruticose lichen that grows on trees and shrubs in the fog regions along the Pacific Coast of North America in the coastal scrub region of the Channel Islands of California, and around Bahía de San Quintín, Baja California and further south in the Vizcaíno Desert. The epithet is in honor of Reginald Heber Howe, Jr. for his contributions to lichenology, especially acknowledged for providing images of the type (biology) specimens in his revision of the genus Ramalina.
Vermilacinia zebrina is a fruticose lichen that grows on bark of trees and shrubs, occasionally on rocks, in the fog regions along the Pacific Coast of North America, from Puget Sound in northern Washington to near El Rosario in Baja California. The epithet, zebrina, is in reference to the black transverse bands on the thallus branches; however, the species is interpreted to include thalli without black bands.
